JPH0155850B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to the invention, for example, as already proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 57-215853 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-106220). The present invention relates to a fruit harvesting method using a fruit harvesting robot hand which is provided with a plurality of bendable and extendable finger members.

In this type of robot hand, when picking up fruit, it is necessary not only to reliably take in the fruit into the fruit storage opening, but also to do so without damaging the fruit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide a method for capturing fruit without damaging the target fruit and in a reliable manner.

In order to achieve the above object, the fruit capturing method of the fruit harvesting robot hand according to the present invention is based on the fruit contact detection result of the contact sensor provided inside the finger member. It is characterized in that the fruit is captured into the base end opening while repeatedly bending and stretching.

Because of the above method, the following excellent effects were achieved.

That is, since the fruit is caught by repeatedly bending and stretching by detecting the contact of the fruit with the inside of the finger members, the fruit is reliably placed into the hand without any malfunction such as accidentally crushing the fruit with the finger members. I was able to import it. Moreover, since the finger members repeat bending and stretching, even if the fruit is located at a position slightly deviated from the inner center of the finger members, the relative positional relationship between the fruit and the finger members is automatically corrected. This also has the effect of making the capture of fruits more reliable.

Examples of the method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fruit harvesting device has a parallel link 2 attached to an arm 1 of a movable main body (not shown), and a fruit-catching robot hand 3 is installed at the tip of the arm 1 with a joint 4 so that the direction can be changed freely. It is structured according to the following. The parallel link 2 is extendable and swingable by an extendable actuator 5 and a vertical actuator 6, so that its position can be changed without changing the posture of the robot hand 3.

One end of the robot hand 3 has a fruit storage base opening 7, and the other end is connected with a fruit conveyance shooter 8, and the fruit picked up by the shooter 8 is transferred to the storage area. (not shown).

To explain the structure of this robot hand 3 in detail, a plurality of bendable finger members 9 are provided at the periphery of the opening 7.
... are erected, and wires 10 are provided that loosely fit through the tips of these finger members 9, and
By pulling the wire 10, the finger members 9 are bent inwardly, and the wire 1
The finger members 9 are configured to automatically extend by loosening the finger members 9.

Further, strain gauges 11 as contact sensors are provided inside each finger member 9, and when any of the gauges 11 senses pressure, that is, contact with the fruit, the wire 10 is pulled by a predetermined amount. The structure is such that the operation of a drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the wire 10 to pull it a predetermined amount again after loosening is controlled.

Then, when the optical sensor 12 provided in the opening 7 detects that the fruit has been introduced into the inside of the finger members 9, based on the steps shown in FIG.
The finger members 9... until the gauge 11 senses pressure.
is bent inward, and when the gauge 11 senses pressure, the finger members 9 are extended, the robot hand 3 is raised by a predetermined amount, and then the finger members 9 are bent again by a predetermined number of times. The fruit is taken into the opening 7, the tenon is cut, and the fruit is stored.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the fruit harvesting method of the robot hand for fruit harvesting according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the robot hand, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the robot hand. 7... Proximal opening for fruit storage, 9... Finger member,
11...Touch sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for harvesting fruit using a robot hand for fruit harvesting, in which a plurality of finger members 9 capable of inward bending and extensibility are provided on the periphery of the base end opening 7 for fruit storage, the finger members being Based on the fruit contact detection result of the contact sensor 11... provided inside the fruit 9...
In this fruit-harvesting method of a robot hand for fruit-harvesting, the fruit is caught into the base end opening 7 while repeating inward bending and stretching of the finger members 9.